Zenith

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Zenith Coffee House Tales (xi): Academy Georges Favre-Jacot

"One of the first industrial watch manufactures in the modern sense of the term was born in a small Swiss village. To fully grasp the revolution such a company represented at the time, it is well worth trying to imagine the winter of 1864 in Le Locle, nestled in the Neuchâtel mountains. Like every other year, the season was far too harsh for tilling the soil, which drove farmers to become watchmakers. In 1865, Georges Favre-Jacot, a village youth barely 22 years old, founded his watch factory. It was not the first, nor the only one, but it would change forever the way of producing watches. He had spacious light-filled workshops built in a location where they still stand today. They were the first to be fitted with electric lighting, and he assembled all the region’s key talents there. Over the years, the factory grew into an international company renowned for the excellence of its production, and Georges Favre-Jacot became a captain of industry such as one encounters only a handful per century. While the firm remained under his guidance, the young visionary would consistently inspire his teams with a unique mind-set." [source: Zenith]

To better understand how the power flows I'd suggest a look at the schematics below. Again, it shows the movement from the dual side to ease comprehension. Left, barrel; right, fusée. One wheel from the fusée (at 7 o'clock) drives both the main gear train (gears towards the left) as well as the power reserve indicator (gears towards the right):

Well, while we are at this is does not hurt to inspect the back side, right? 

Here we'll see a new version of the El Primero called Zenith Cal. 4810, featuring 222 parts, all of which very nicely done and finely finished. The general colour tone is yellow gold...

... with some sparkle if the light shines accordlingly:

The large 3/4 (or better: 4/5?) movement plate has as contrasting elements steel bridges holding the escapement elements (hairspring, balance and escapement wheel):

Absolutely in place with the standard of this movement Zenith opted for a silicon escapement system. Overall, it looks like directly take from a more common El Primero (inclusive of the heat-blued screw securing the regulator), which once more attests to the excellence of this construction!

Another very charming touch is the click system, finely hand-finished and with a crank-connector resembling ancient key-wound pocket watch equivalents:

So much for the inner values, now I would invite you to appreciate the outer elements - its well worth it!

Again, lets' start from the top, but this time we'll focus on sparkles - yes, there are lots of bright spots... Barrel & fusée bridges...

The effect of the light spots is greatly accentuated by its natural contre-point, the egg-shell textured silvery dial. It plays well with levels, as well - note how a second antipode is added in form of the heat-blued, shiny hands!

The hands warrant a much closer look. Not only do they exude a magical dark blue...

So, in summary I would call this timepiece the horological equivalent to J.S. Bach's Wohltemperiertes Klavier with an extraordinarily wide range of styles combined into a singular œvre. A pleasure to enjoy on a Poltrona Frau chaise....

Special and at the same time elegant and unassuming. Marvellous in- and outside. Still, strictly tuned to a great line of heritage at one of the most respected watchmakers in the industry.

Yes, this is a pièce extraordinaire !

So, thanks for viewing, and please excuse the images. Not the optimal lightning (terrible mix of artificial and natural, almost impossible to correct... ;-()) in an otherwise quite appropriate location (this time, it was the newly opened Park Hyatt in Vienna). Al always, great thanks to Miss R and the team of Zenith Austria & CEE!

Cheers,

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